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Monthly Archives: April 2012

Firstly, a huge thanks to all the fantastic people that came out and supported me and all the runners, Amie, Andy, Jo, Mike, Dane, Gary, FMG (future Mrs Goom), Lucille, my lovely parents, Jade, Pat, Paul, Lizzy and James. And now my marathon story….

6am my alarm woke me up. Boo I thought! It’s a Sunday and 6am is early. Still, stuff to do, places to go, marathon to run. You know the drill. By 7:45 I was showered, fed, taped up, bagged up and ready to go. I took the 2 mile stroll to Preston Park, accompanied by hundreds of other runners I met en route.

The atmosphere in the Park was a mix of excitement and nerves. And wee. The huge toilet queues meant many people were abusing the bushes. Soon I was warmed up and at the front of the red coral, watching the elite athletes warm up by running very quickly up and down. Silly people, did they not know they would shortly be doing a lot of running?!

Gus Poyet got us under way and off we went. My plan was a steady start; 7:30-7:45 for 2 miles before gradually creeping up to 7:15. So when I did my first 3 miles in under 7:15 I realised my plan had been shelved. I kept trying to run slower, honest, but it just felt too slow. I won’t have been the only one but I really paid for my poor pacing.

The first few miles were lovely, at around mile 2, a nice chap from the RW forum came up and said hello having recognised my name off my backpack. Always nice. I cruised fairly comfortably enjoying the crowd and tried to persuade a lady on a bike to give me a lift. She wouldn’t. Not going my way apparently. At Ovingdean I tried to get a local to “make me a brew” but she just laughed! I loved the crowd out there, supportive, loud and vibrant. One or two of them were dancing!

My family were there to support me, and I passed them at mile 5 and 12. Great to see them and their support has been fantastic. I felt good at 12. Good enough to keep beckoning the crowd to cheer us more. I got a huge boost from a big “come on Tom!” and sped up, not a great idea when I was already doing 7 minute mileage.

By mile 15 the cracks started to show, I was chatting to Gavin, one of several really nice runners who were friendly enough to say hello. I was hoping I could forget about how hard it was starting to feel by having a natter. 17 and 18 I started to flag. My speed dropped to closer to 7:30.

Around 19 I thought I was in trouble, I was getting more and more tired and couldn’t find a rhythm. I needed a boost. I got it from the 3:10 crew, a nice group of runners I’d met earlier (all aiming for 3:10) who I’d over taken during a speedy burst. They lifted me up. Not actually, obviously, that’d be cheating, but their presence carried me until around mile 20 when I could only watch as they gradually sped away.

Mile 21 I discovered the Wall. I hit it hard, and it hit me back. I had nothing left. I felt weak. I thought, “I really can’t do this”. With little crowd out around the power station, there was nothing to lift me. I kept thinking, “how am I going to do another 5 miles?”.

As I turned the corner behind the power station I passed the water station and there was my saviour! Fellow Physio and marathoner, Louise got her whole team to cheer me on and fill me with water and gel. I took long hard drinks from my camel back as well. Their encouragement and that extra energy made the difference. Half a wobbly mile later I could feel my energy levels rising. I picked it up again and found some kind of rhythm.

At mile 24 though I hit a mini wall, the energy left me again and I just desperately wanted to finish. A friend who saw me at that time said I was like a stumbling caveman. But, like all the finishers today, I kept going and somehow at the 800 meters to go sign I found enough energy to raise my speed and power through the final straight. The crowd were amazing. A wall of noise that pushed me on. I crossed the line at 3:12:36. As soon as I stopped I could barely stand. The drinks and bananas seemed an age away but I was soon drinking powerade like there was no tomorrow (although I don’t like to drink something that’s bright blue – nothing edible is naturally that colour!)

All in all an amazing, unforgettable day with great weather, fantastic crowd and some really friendly runners. I learned an awful lot about pacing, the hard way, but for my first marathon I think I did pretty well. Right, now where’s that beer…..

Like this:

The Achilles Tendon is a common sore spot for runners and can be a difficult area to treat. Here we’ll look at common diagnoses, causes and treatments.

What is a Tendinopathy?

Tendinopathies are not limited just to the Achilles. They can be a problem in a number of areas throughout the body and runners might suffer patella tendinopathy, posterior tibial tendinopathy or peroneal tendinopathy to name but a few. Much of our bodies are in a constant state of building new tissue (synthesis) or breaking down tissue. It happens in muscle, bone, ligaments and tendons. How much stress or load we put on a structure plays a huge role in how much synthesis and breakdown of tissue there is. It’s a balance.

If the load we put on a tendon is too much and we continue to do this frequently then the amount of tissue breakdown starts to exceed tissue synthesis. The structure of the tendon then starts to change and becomes less efficient at dealing with load and you have a vicious circle. In the early stages there is often inflammation involved in this process. The tendon may visibly swell and will be painful. In more chronic cases there is often less inflammation but the tendon’s structure is changed considerably – it may be thickened and develop nodules. If untreated the degeneration of the tendon can reach a level where it really can’t handle any load, as a result it fails and you develop a partial or total Achilles tendon rupture. This is a gradual process and usually a painful one but sometimes it can occur without pain with the first sign of a tendon problem being a sudden unexpected rupture.

Sounds like a bleak picture doesn’t it?! It needn’t be. If the problem is identified and treated early it often fully resolves but it is something that needs acting on. It probably won’t go away on it’s own.

Symptoms

Runners usually describe a gradual onset of achilles pain during or after a run. Gradually the pain becomes more frequent and can start to be a problem on a daily basis when not running.

Usually the tendon itself is painful if you squeeze it between 2 and 6 cm from the heel bone. There may be swelling initially or thickening of the tendon.

Activities that load the tendon will increase pain, this can include going up or down stairs, walking on tip toes, squatting and of course running.

There might be tightness in the calf and pain on taking weight first thing in the morning.

What else could it be?

Part of the reason that this is now called tendinopathy and not “tendinitis” is because of the ongoing debate as to what this condition entails. It’s a bit more complex than you might think. There are other issues around the tendon that some people see as part of the same broad “tendinopathy” issue. These include inflammation of the sheath of the tendon (paratendinitis) inflammation of the insertion of Achilles into the heel bone (insertional tendinitis) or inflammation of the bursa at the base of the achilles (retrocalcaneal bursitis). There is also another tendon, called plantaris that is sometimes embedded within the Achilles and can cause irritation.

The other condition that can be misdiagnosed as Achilles Tendinopathy is Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction (PTTD). The pain tends to be more on the inside of the Achilles tendon and the Achilles won’t be sore when you pinch it. A lot of the treatment principles are similar though so you might find the treatment you would use for the Achilles will work for PTTD.

Causes of Achilles Tendinopathy

As with many running injuries establishing the cause is essential for recovery and prevention of recurrence. If you just focus on treating the pain then there is a risk the problem will come back once you run again. This is a challenging area of rehab and you may need guidance from a Physio for this. There are many factors that you can work on but I would recommend finding the key issue and focussing on that first. To watch a very detailed assessment of a runner and treatment of his Achilles issues check out this Running Times article here.

Usually the cause of Achilles tendinopathy is continually putting too much load on the tendon and not allowing enough time for the tendon to recover. Its not just about distance otherwise all marathon runners would have achilles issues which they don’t. Several factors will lead to a runner putting more load on the Achilles than it can cope with;

Training error

The classic too much, too soon.

Research suggests that training error is involved in 60-80% of cases of runners with tendon problems.

A rapid increase in mileage doesn’t allow the tendon time to adapt to deal with the load and as a result it starts to breakdown. Hill work also places greater stress on the Achilles and doing too much can also also cause this issue. Increasing speed, changing stride length and not having enough rest can also play a part. Commonly it’s not just doing one of these things but a combination of a couple of factors that lead to a problem.

Solution

Stick to the usual recommendation of only increasing your weekly mileage by 10%. Be cautious when doing hill or speed work not to over do it. Work on just one training modality at a time. By this I mean if you’re doing endurance work do just that. Don’t try and do your long runs quickly in an attempt to improve fitness. Likewise with speed work these are not meant to be long workouts. Either work speed or endurance not both together. For long runs you should be comfortable and easily able to chat, it should be around 60-90 seconds per mile slower than your race pace.

You can use a recent race time to approximate speeds for each run using the Macmillan Calculator. I know people have mixed views on this but it just gives you a little guidance. RW’s training schedules also include recommended paces so you can use those too.

What I’ve found is that sometimes you feel great running and you just want to go for it. Sometimes you worry that you’ve not ran any real distance at race pace and that anxiety makes you push yourself on the long run. I’ve done it myself, I ran a 20 miler at 7:27. My race pace for the marathon is around 7:15 (hopefully!). I felt great at the time, the last 3 miles I pushed close to 7:00 per mile. What’s the problem then? It took my legs nearly 3 weeks to recover and I had to drop a few runs here and there to prevent injury. I’ve learned from it that training for a marathon is about the whole programme not each individual run.

Another part of this which is really important is have a rest day. I can’t stress how important rest is for this condition. Research has shown that if you don’t have at least 24 hours between each run that the tendon doesn’t have enough time to rebuild new tissue. The balance between tissue synthesis and breakdown is lost and you have a greater amount of breakdown. That isn’t to say you need a rest day between each run but if you can plan your running to prevent multiple consecutive days of running it will help. Some programmes “bracket” the long runs with rest days before and after, this makes sense to me. I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of a “recovery run” loading fatigued tissues the day after a long run.

For many simply amending any clear training errors may be enough to allow your Achilles to settle and for you to continue running. You may not even need specific rehab if your training was the sole cause. For others you may need to adjust your running to find a way to do it pain free. You can try offloading the tendon when you run using a gel heel raise or taping technique (details below). Try varying running surface, speed, distance, stride length or running form (aim for quiet controlled running with mid foot strike if possible). Try and find a level that you can manage without pain during running or for 24-48 hours after.

What if you can’t do this? If there is no way you can find to run pain free then I’m afraid you’ll need to rest until you can and aim to settle your symptoms (details at the bottom of the blog). It may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on severity. During this time you can cross train following the same guidance as you’re running – it should be pain free during and 24-48 hours after.

Continuing with the causes…

Biomechanics

Lots of potential causes here, they include leg length difference, over pronation, high foot arch and poor mobility in the foot and ankle. Running “form” plays a part here, in theory if a runner heel strikes and then the foot overpronates then this places “whipping action” on the Achilles.

Solution

This excellent piece of research recommends video gait analysis and provision of the correct footwear to support the foot, ankle and Achilles tendon. It’s a long read but if you’ve got a spare 30 mins or so it covers everything from achilles tendon to stress fractures (man alive, I’m such a geek!).

So, if you haven’t already, get a running shop or health professional to assess your gait. I would suggest that simply watching you run without the aid of slow mo video is probably not enough. A lot of running shops will assess you on a treadmill with slow mo video for free, but bare in mind their ultimate goal is to sell shoes. The only way to really find out if it’s the right shoe for you is to run in it, some shops will give you a 30 day running trial with a money back guarantee which gives you the opportunity to properly test it out.

In theory a shoe with a higher heel drop (the difference in height between the heel and the middle of the shoe) should have less stress on the Achilles. I say in theory as there is very little research evidence to support this idea. Some shoes are designed to encourage you to mid foot strike and again in theory this should help. A stability or motion control shoe or orthotic insole to reduce overpronation should also help but again the evidence here is far from conclusive.

Poor movement control

Hand in hand with biomechanics comes movement control. If you have poor control of movement then that can lead to increase stress on the Achilles tendon. “Eccentric” control is often thought of as very important. This essentially means how well you control how a muscle lowers your body weight. Think of a squat, that’s eccentric control of the quads (among other things). Each time your foot lands a host of muscles including the calf have to control the impact and utilise the force to propel you forward. The whole leg is involved at different levels so an issue at the hip or knee can affect the ankle and Achilles.

Solution

Identifying your own control issues isn’t easy. A Physio assessment is certainly helpful here. There are a few things you can look at, see how easy each one is, how well you can control it and how it compares to your non-painful side (if you have one!).

Single leg balance – can you do this and keep the leg and trunk steady? What about with your eyes closed or on a pillow?

Single knee dip – your knee should move fluidly over your second toe without drifting in towards the other leg.

Calf raise – you should be able to do this with knee straight and knee bent. You should be able to lift the heel the same height off the ground on both sides and control lowering the heel too. Note; if you have pain this may well limit this test.

If you find a balance difference work on it. With control work the focus is on quality not quantity there is little point doing hundreds of wobbly single knee dips, it’s better to do 5-10 controlled movements.

Muscle Strength/ Endurance

The main culprits here are usually the 2 calf muscles gastrocnemius and soleus. You can test the endurance of each by doing repeated single calf raises to fatigue. First though ensure that your pain has settled otherwise you can flare up your symptoms and it’s unlikely the test will reveal much as pain will stop you before fatigue does.

Use a little support for balance and do repeated calf raise with the leg straight first with your good leg, then your weaker side. Count how many it takes to reach fatigue and note the effort needed. Repeat with the knee bent 30-40 degrees.

Solution

Once your symptoms are under control you can strengthen any weakness you’ve found. To improve endurance the recommended dosage is usually 15-25 reps (or to fatigue) 3 sets each separated by a rest period of 1-2 minutes. This can be done around 3 times a week with a rest day between. Of course this isn’t set in stone, there are a host of different programmes recommended and you will need to stop if you get pain.

Tissue Flexibility/ joint range of movement

It’s important that the ankle has a full range of movement to prevent excessive stress on the Achilles. Ankle movement is a combination of 4 main directions – upwards (dorsiflexion) downwards (plantarflexion) inwards (inversion) and outwards (eversion). Compare your range of movement between both sides and again work on any deficit. Particularly important is dorsiflexion. When your foot hits the ground the ankle has to dorsiflex first, any loss in range can increase stress on the Achilles. Dorsiflexion range is commonly lost after ankle fracture or sprain or due to calf muscle tightness. Try stretching your gastroc and soleus, see if one side feels tighter. You can also do the knee to wall test and compare left and right.

Solution

Regularly stretch gastroc and soleus. Nice video from on stretches from RW here. Ensure the calf is stretched dynamically pre-run. Video of this coming soon, until then I like these dynamic calf stretches. If the ankle range of movement is restricted, some simple ankle range of movement exercises may be adequate to loosen it up.

Symptom Treatment

So hopefully you’ll now have an idea of cause, and maybe worked out what the key factor for you is. You may need now to settle your symptoms as the first stage of your rehab.

Anti-inflams – the jury is out on this but they do seem to reduce symptoms in the acute stages. As with any medication consult your GP or pharmacist first.

Ice – for maximum of 15 minutes at a time to reduce pain and swelling

Offload the tendon with a gel heel raise in your shoe all the time, not just for running. They’re easily available online or from shoe shops, the idea is to use it as a temporary measure when things are sore in the early stages

Offload the tendon with kinesiology tape (details below). Again the aim is to reduce load on the tendon in the early stages, we mentioned above that this can be used when running but, like the heel raise, you may need to use it when walking if things are very sore. Long term though you want to wean off it as you gradually increase the load on the tendon.

See a Physio for acupuncture or ultrasound? The jury is out on this, if you’ve responded well to ultrasound or acupuncture in the past it may be an option for you. Personally I would try the methods mentioned above and consider there two if the others don’t work.

Yep. That there is my skinny little ankle!

Rehabbing your Achilles

So you’ve identified the cause, you’ve settled you symptoms, the next stage is to start your rehab. Making the transition between settling symptoms and rehabbing is a tricky one. Use pain and swelling as a guide. If you’re pain levels increase after your rehab work then it’s likely your just working too hard. Step down your exercises let it settle then gradually increase again.

Your rehab is going to be a mixture of dealing with the potential causes of your Achilles problem (e.g. Doing strength, flexibility or balance work as detailed above) and improving the tendon’s ability to handle load. This is where the “eccentric loading” that you may have heard of comes in.

The idea behind eccentric loading is that it actually helps to reverse the effects of a tendinopathy. The tendon seems to respond to this type of exercise by reorganising the structure of the tissue so that it’s more capable of dealing with load. Excellent. The original research showed promising result and recent research suggests that this type of exercise is effective both in the short term and at 5 year follow up.

Taken from Alfredson et al 1998.

These “heel drops” involve pushing up onto the toes of both feet, then lower over the edge of a step on the weaker foot. The exercise is done with the knee straight and repeated with the knee flexed, so there are essentially 2 exercises. The original research recommends doing both with 3 sets of 15 reps of twice per day. However this isn’t set in stone, Many people will need to start by doing the lowering part on both legs too as it may be too sore to work just the weaker leg. Also you may need to do lower reps and sets, for example starting with 3 sets of 5 on both legs and building up to 3 sets of 10 on both before progressing to onto 3 sets of 5 on just your weaker side. Be guided by your pain and gradually increase as able.

Sometimes you don the running gear and you feel a bit like a Lycra clad super hero, cruising the streets at high speed fighting evil while trying not to knock over a pensioner! Other times you just feel more like the pensioner. Things hurt. The legs are heavy and tired and you’re carrying a niggle that you’re worried could become more serious. Maybe you are actually injured, RW estimates that 66% of runners carry an injury so you wouldn’t be alone in that. How do you decide if you run or rest and whether or not you need to see a medical professional?

Any signs of serious injury? These include swelling, a joint locking or giving way, severe pain, pins and needles or numbness, pain when feeling along the bone itself or a joint being restricted in movement (not just stiff but unable to move beyond a certain point and being less than the other side). Pain on impact or difficulty weight-bearing are also signs to be aware of. If you have any of these signs I would recommend a medical opinion. I might not dash off to the GP/ physio for a one off bit of swelling or pins and needles but if it’s becoming a more persistent problem it’s better to have it looked at.

As mentioned above, consistent symptoms are a little warning. Ask yourself was it here last time I ran and the time before? Is it just a one off? I’ve had some really sore one off pains that have never returned and I’ve never worried about them but if something comes back again and again I get it checked out.

Can I run through it? Many severe injuries (though not all) will be nearly impossible to run with. The pain will get progressively worse in most cases and you’ll have to stop, although sometimes with the adrenaline pumping it can mask the pain. If the pain is getting progressively worse as you run, then stop, if it’s feeling better with each stride and it’s mild pain, you’re usually safe to carry on. Let’s be clear on this though, I’m not suggesting you just grit your teeth and push through it. If unsure, stop running and see if it settles.

Does it stop hurting after running? If you are totally pain free when you stop this is obviously a good sign. If it persists and affects everyday life then it may be a bit more serious and is worthy of getting checked out.

Can I change it while running? Does it stop hurting if I reduce my speed or stride length or change my running surface or stop and stretch? If a simple adjustment in your running stops it then again it’s a good sign. Stick with that change for a few minutes then gradually return to your normal running style, often you’ll be able to do that pain free. The theory is that sometimes the repetitive action of running stresses the same areas over and over again, a change reduces this stress and allows pain from it to settle. I’ve had it with ITBS on my long runs, pain kicked in at mile 16, I reduced my stride length and by mile 17 it had gone again and felt fine after.

What’s the bigger picture? I’ve ran nearly 500miles in less than 4 months, for some that might be normal but for me it represents a big increase in mileage. Would I expect to ache after doing that? Yes, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m injured, just fatigued. If that’s the case the symptoms should settle with a few days rest.

Risk vs benefit. With just over a week to go until my marathon an injury now would have very little chance to heal. I’ve done 99% of my fitness work so the benefit of running through pain doesn’t nearly match the risk of injury. I’m not injured at the mo but if I was unsure about a run at this stage I’d take a rain check. A week into my training though, when I had months to recover I wouldn’t be so cautious.

Could I do something that might be more useful? Sometimes a cross training session, specific strength, control or flexibility work might prove more useful in preparation for a race than running with a niggle. I’ll often choose to strengthen the muscles around the problem area then have a good stretch after rather than going for a run.

Would rest actually be more beneficial than anything else? Bare in mind that a lot of our body’s adaptations and strengthening actually occurs when we rest. Runners seem to dread rest but it is an essential part of what we do. A carefully selected rest day can make all the difference!

Am I overtraining? According to this RW article there are 130 signs of overtraining! I won’t go into them all here but they include heavy legs, fatigue, muscle aches, loss of desire to run, reduced running performance, low mood or irritability, loss of sleep, loss of labido, susceptibility to illness, brewing a cold and increased heart rate. More on rest from RW here

When it comes to the run or not to run question, you know your body so only you can decide. There are no hard rules. Sometimes heavy legs actually feel a lot better for a run. There are also mental techniques you can use to help you overcome pain when competing. That said a key message here is don’t be afraid to rest or cross train instead. Remember too your training schedule doesn’t need to be concrete. You can change and swap things a little. If you’re exhausted and scheduled to do speed work, could you swap it for the recovery session you had planned for later in the week? Don’t be a schedule slave!

With suspected injuries if there’s any doubt get it checked out. Better to sort something before it becomes an issue than wait until it does. Lots of Physio clinics do free assessments for runners, this might be all you need to point you in the right direction.